Streak Over: Colgate Snaps Lehigh's Nine Game Run

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The No. 17 Colgate men's
lacrosse team snapped No. 7 Lehigh's nine-game winning streak on
Saturday afternoon when it handed the Mountain Hawks their second
loss of the season and first league setback 11-10 in overtime in a
game that saw seven lead changes and seven tied scores.

The Raiders (9-2, 3-1 Patriot League), who defeated their second
nationally-ranked opponent of the season, were able to come back
from a two-goal deficit in the closing minutes of the game to send
it into additional time and secure a win in their first overtime
game of the season on a Jeff Ledwick goal.

The Mountain Hawks (10-2, 3-1) took a 10-8 lead with 5:10 left
in regulation, but the Raiders scored the final three goals to
snatch the victory.

The Colgate win, coupled with Bucknell's defeat to Army, means
Lehigh, Colgate and Bucknell enter next weekend tied for first in
the Patriot League with identical 3-1 records.

Senior co-captain Ledwick led Colgate with four points from
three goals and one assist while sophomore Brendon McCann also
added four points from one goal and three helpers. Freshman Ryan
Walsh added two goals and one assist while junior Peter Baum had
one goal and one assist for two points.

Junior Matt Baker, freshman Matt Clarkson, senior co-captain
Kevin Gordon and classmate John Donnally also tallied one goal each
in the game. Junior Robert Grabher also had an incredible
performance, going 20-for-25 at the faceoff X while also picking up
11 groundballs and an assist in the game.

"Give Colgate a ton of credit," said Lehigh head coach Kevin
Cassese. "They came out and won the game. They did it by dominating
the hustle stats. They controlled the shots, the groundballs and
the faceoffs. They really took it to us today and that was the
difference."

"Credit Colgate's faceoff personnel," said Cassese. "Being able
to secure possession was the difference in the game. We played far
too much defense against the top offense in the country."

Colgate (9-2, 3-1 PL) came out to its usual strong start in the
first period, opening scoring when Ledwick picked up a quick pass
from Baum and then fired it past the goalie to give his team a 1-0
lead at the 13:37 mark. Both teams then began to play a more
attacking game over the next four minutes, but this time around it
was the Mountain Hawks that found a goal at the 9:31 mark to tie
the score at 1-1.

The Raiders reclaimed their lead just over three minutes later
with an unassisted goal from Clarkson to put the score at 2-1.
However, Lehigh then tied the score at the 4:21 mark before going
on to gain its first lead of the game 3-2 with a goal in the final
five seconds of the quarter. Both goalies had four saves in the
opening 15 minutes of play.

In the second period, neither team could find a goal in the
first eight minutes as they battled it out on the field. The game
became more physical as they searched for a goal, which then
resulted in a 30-second penalty on the Raiders but Lehigh could not
capitalize on the first extra-man opportunity of the game.

Both teams continued to force each other to make turnovers while
firing shots on net but it was not until the 6:47 mark that the
Mountain Hawks were able to break the dry spell with a tally from
Dante Fantoni at the 6:47 mark. This did not deter Colgate, which
then struck back with a goal from McCann at the 3:57 mark to reduce
the scoring margin to one goal. A penalty on Lehigh with less than
two minutes left in the half allowed the Raiders to find an
equalizer at the 1:15 mark. Baker scored the man-up goal with an
assist from Ledwick. Six seconds later, Grabher won the faceoff,
dished it over to Gordon, who then wound up his long pole and shot
it past the goalie into the top of the net to give Colgate a 5-4
lead going into half time.

The Raiders attempted to carry their scoring momentum into the
third quarter, however it was Lehigh that was able to even up the
score again at the 11:32 mark to make it 5-5. The Mountain Hawks
then took the lead with a sixth goal off an initial shot that hit
the post and was then fired in courtesy of the Lao-Gosney brothers.
The teams continued to play aggressively, with Lehigh looking to
extend its lead and Colgate attempting to tie the score once again.
This time around however, it was the Raiders that got their way
with a tally from Walsh off a pass from McCann to put the score at
6-6. As the clock wound down, it was clear that the pressure was on
for both teams. Colgate was able to break the tie and take a 7-6
lead courtesy of a unassisted goal from Walsh with 3:15 left but
then a tally from the Mountain Hawks with 23 seconds left in the
period tied the game up at 7-7.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter it looked like Lehigh
would be able to turn things around, scoring back-to-back goals at
the 13:14 and 10:01 marks to take a 9-7 lead early in the period.
Feeling the pressure of the game slipping out of their hands, the
Raiders soon answered back with an eighth goal at the 7:43 mark
from Donnally with an assist by McCann to make it 9-8. This did not
discourage Lehigh, which then extended it lead to two goals once
again with the score at 10-8 at the 5:10 mark. However, Colgate was
able to maintain its composure and find a pair of goals from Baum
and Ledwick at the 4:22 and 1:43 marks to tie the game at 10-10 and
send it into overtime. Walsh had an assist on Ledwick's goal.

After almost scoring a goal in the final seconds of the fourth
quarter with a shot from Baker that was saved, the Raiders came
into their first overtime period of their season determined to find
the game-winner. Lehigh almost found the golden goal when David
DiMaria hit the post and was then denied by goalie Jared Madison on
his second shot. However, after a long, exciting battle at Andy
Kerr Stadium, it was Colgate that was able to respond to its fans'
pleas with a game-winning goal from Ledwick with help from McCann
at the 2:07 mark of the four-minute period to secure the 11-10
win.

Senior goalie Jared Madison had nine saves in the game while
Matt Poillon, one of the nation's top goalies this season, had 16
stops for Lehigh. The 11 goals were the most that Poillon has
conceded all season.

Colgate held Lehigh scoreless in its one extra-man opportunity
while going 1-2 on its man-up opportunities. The Raiders also held
a 44-33 advantage in shots and in groundballs, 30-21.

The game featured the nation's top offense Colgate (13.6 goals
per game) against Lehigh's top-ranked defense (5.45). Sophomore
Lukas Mikelinich shut down Baum, but the Raiders got scoring
elsewhere.

"We didn't have anyone who stepped up and played their best game
of the year," said Cassese. "On the other side of the ball, we
did a great job on their top two scorers [Baum and Ryan Walsh], but
they're a talented offense. They played together and a lot of guys
stepped up."

Colgate will resume play next weekend when it hosts Lafayette
for a league matchup on Saturday, April 14 at 1 p.m. in Hamilton,
N.Y.